The consumer’s issue:
“I went to have my tyres replaced at a garage. During the next four to six weeks, the car developed a judder when braking, so I took it to a dealership to investigate the cause of the problem. They found that this was a result of grinding of the brake disc and could be the result of a number of reasons, but in this case it was caused by the overtightening of the wheel nuts (to a torque value of 200 Nm instead of 130 Nm), thereby causing disc warping on all four wheels. I think this must have been from when I had my tyres replaced.
The dealer therefore changed all four of the brake discs, and after this, there was no longer any juddering when the brakes were applied. I therefore complained to the garage who replaced my tyres, but they denied overtightening the wheels. The dealer sent the removed discs away to be tested and told me that only one is warped and that this is due to other manufacturing reasons. I am unsure who is to blame and would like this to be looked into.”
The accredited business’ response:
- We fitted the tyres on the consumer’s car, and received a complaint two months’ later that there was warping on all four brake discs causing juddering. The consumer complained that the wheels were overtightened to 200 Nm.
- We used an automated system to use the correct force to tighten the wheels, and sent the discs replaced by the dealer for an independent test with a brake specialist. The specialist confirmed only one of the discs was faulty, contrary to the findings of the dealer.
- We do think that it could not be correct that all four brake discs were overtightened, as only one was warped. There were a multitude of potential causes for the grinding, and no evidence to suggest that this was to do with our workmanship.
The adjudication outcome:
- The Motor Ombudsman adjudicator remarked that the health check document from the dealership stated that all four wheels had been overtightened to 200 Nm, causing warping on all four brake discs.
- As a result, the brake discs were replaced. No further evidence or explanation was provided to indicate that the wheels were overtightened, or that the brake disks were warped.
- A brake specialist found that only one of the brake discs was faulty – this was irreconcilable with the report provided by the dealer showing warping in all four discs.
- As such, it was considered by the adjudicator that the dealer’s health check document was more likely than not to be incorrect.
- In addition, there was no evidence available to suggest just one of the wheels had been overtightened, causing just one brake disc to be warped, and it was considered unlikely the equipment used would have made this error on only one of the wheels.
- It was not found that the damage was more likely than not to have been caused by the overtightening of the wheels.
- The adjudicator therefore concluded that the garage had conducted their repairs using reasonable skill and care, and the customer’s complaint was not upheld.
Conclusion:
- Neither party has requested an appeal of the decision made, and the case has been closed.
